Draconids (Oct)

The Draconid meteor shower is active between 2nd and 16th October, peaking 7th or 8th October, and can produce zenithal hourly rates (ZHRs) of over 25 meteors per hour.  However, it has been known that major increases in activity can be observed due to passes through denser debris streams. The showers of 1933 and 1946 produced thousands of meteors per hour at the shower peaks.

Periodic comet 21P/Giaccobini-Zinner is responsible for the debris stream that creates the Draconids, created during its 6.6 year orbit around the Sun.  The shower was also known in the past as the Giacobinds.

Please download our Draconids radiant finder chart or see the star map below  (clicking will open a larger version) for the location of the radiant (both produced in TheSkyX Professional Edition).

View the meteor shower calendar